Republican Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, who is also the chair of the Republican Governors Association, expressed his thoughts on the battle to be his successor in a recent interview with Pluribus News last week.

Ducey said that Democrat Katie Hobbs is not nearly as strong of a contender for the office when compared to Republican Kari Lake.

“In Arizona, the primary’s over. We certainly have the superior candidate in Kari Lake,” Ducey said. “Katie Hobbs is possibly the weakest Democrat nominee in the nation. And I really sense the race, the party coming together, and independents seeing a much stronger candidate against the sitting secretary of state.”

When asked about his support of Lake’s primary opponent, Karrin Taylor Robson, and his disagreement with Lake over the 2020 election, Ducey reasserted that it’s time to focus on the general election.

“Listen, the primary is over. I think Kari is focused on what she’s going to do as the next governor of Arizona,” he said.

“And I would also say, there wasn’t pressure. I certified the election. I certified the election because it had been certified by all 15 counties. It had been audited. It had been determined to be accurate, and there was really no other choice besides to follow the law and my constitutional oath,” the outgoing governor said.

As the RGA’s job is to support Republican governors and help them win their races, it’s a bold statement by Ducey to say that Hobbs is weak. In his capacity as chair, the interview with Pluribus News had the governor comment on races throughout the country.

Hobbs refused to debate Lake and has kept a low-key presence on the campaign trail, which has largely benefitted Lake on the messaging front. Democrats who view the Republican as extreme have even called on the secretary of state to go head to head with the former local news anchor, which has a near zero chance of happening at this point. Debates are facilitated through the Citizens Clean Elections Commission, and Lake did a one-on-one interview with them on Sunday in lieu of debate.

The RealClearPolitics polling average shows Lake up by 1.6 percent.